Recommendation 1

Drinking water sources should be protected by developing watershed-based source protection plans. Source protection plans should be required for all watersheds in Ontario.

Implemented - Source Protection

Recommendation 2

The Ministry of the Environment should ensure that draft source protection plans are prepared through an inclusive process of local consultation. Where appropriate, this process should be managed by conservation authorities.

Implemented - Source Protection

Recommendation 3

Draft source protection plans should be reviewed by the Ministry of the Environment and subject to ministry approval.

Implemented - Source Protection

Recommendation 4

Provincial government decisions that affect the quality of drinking water sources must be consistent with approved source protection plans.

Implemented - Source Protection

Recommendation 5

Where the potential exists for a significant direct threat to drinking water sources, municipal official plans and decisions must be consistent with the applicable source protection plan. Otherwise, municipal official plans and decisions should have regard to the source protection plan. The plans should designate areas where consistency is required.

Implemented - Source Protection

Recommendation 6

The provincial government should provide for limited rights of appeal to challenge source protection plans, and provincial and municipal decisions that are inconsistent with the plans.

Implemented - Source Protection

Recommendation 7

The provincial government should ensure that sufficient funds are available to complete the planning and adoption of source protection plans.

Implemented - Source Protection

Recommendation 8

Conservation authorities (or, in their absence, the Ministry of the Environment) should be responsible for implementing local initiatives to educate landowners, industry, and the public about the requirements and importance of drinking water source protection.

Implemented - Source Protection

Recommendation 9

Septic systems should be inspected as a condition for the transfer of a deed.

Implemented- Source Protection

Recommendation 10

The Ministry of the Environment should not issue Certificates of Approval for the spreading of waste materials unless they are compatible with the applicable source protection plan.

Implemented - Nutrient Management Act (NMA)
also linked to Source Protection

Recommendation 11

The Ministry of the Environment should take the lead role in regulating the potential impacts of farm activities on drinking water sources. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs should provide technical support to the Ministry of the Environment and should continue to advise farmers about the protection of drinking water sources.

Implemented through Nutrient Management Act (NMA), 2002 also linked to Source Protection

Recommendation 12

Where necessary, the Ministry of the Environment should establish minimum regulatory requirements for agricultural activities that generate impacts on drinking water sources.

Implemented
through Nutrient Management Regulation (O. Reg. 267/03)
also linked to Source Protection

Recommendation 13

All large or intensive farms, and all farms in areas designated as sensitive or high-risk by the applicable source protection plan, should be required to develop binding individual water protection plans consistent with the source protection plan.

Implemented through NMA
also linked to Source Protection

Recommendation 14

Once a farm has in place an individual water protection plan that is consistent with the applicable source protection plan, municipalities should not have the authority to require that farm to meet a higher standard of protection of drinking water sources than that which is laid out in the farm’s water protection plan.

Implemented through NMA
also linked to Source Protection

Recommendation 15

The Ministry of the Environment should work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, agricultural groups, conservation authorities, municipalities, and other interested groups to create a provincial framework for developing individual farm water protection plans.

Implemented through NMA
also linked to Source Protection

Recommendation 16

The provincial government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment, should establish a system of cost-share incentives for water protection projects on farms.

Implemented through the Nutrient Management Financial Assistance Program

Recommendation 17

The regulation of other industries by the provincial government and by municipalities must be consistent with provincially approved source protection plans.

Implemented- Source Protection

Recommendation 18

In setting drinking water quality standards, the objective should be such that, if the standards are met, a reasonable and informed person would feel safe drinking the water.

Implemented through Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

Recommendation 19

Standards setting should be based on a precautionary approach, particularly with respect to contaminants whose effects on human health are unknown.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 20

Regarding drinking water quality research, I encourage Health Canada and other agencies to adopt as a priority the development of sufficiently detailed definitions of the susceptibility of vulnerable population groups to drinking water contaminant exposures to allow appropriate adjustments in drinking water quality guidelines.

Implemented through letter from MOE to Health Canada

Recommendation 21

I suggest that the federal–provincial process for proposing drinking water quality guidelines be refined to provide for greater transparency and public participation.

Implemented through letter from MOE to Health Canada

Recommendation 22

I suggest that the Federal–Provincial Subcommittee on Drinking Water focus on drinking water quality guidelines. I encourage Health Canada to commit the required scientific support to the federal-provincial process for proposing drinking water quality guidelines.

Implemented through letter from MOE to Health Canada

Recommendation 23

I encourage the federal government to adopt standards that are as stringent as, or more stringent than, Ontario Regulation 459/00 for all federal facilities, Indian reserves, national parks, military installations, and other lands under federal jurisdiction in Ontario.

Implemented through Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water meeting, Guidance for Providing Safe Drinking Water in Areas of Federal Jurisdiction, and letter to the federal government

Recommendation 24

The provincial government should continue to be the government responsible for setting legally binding drinking water quality standards.

Implemented- through SDWA and O. Reg. 169/03- Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards

Recommendation 25

In setting drinking water quality standards for Ontario, the Minister of the Environment should be advised by an Advisory Council on Standards.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 26

The Advisory Council on Standards should have the authority to recommend that the provincial government adopt standards for contaminants that are not on the current federal–provincial agenda.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 27

The Advisory Council on Standards should consider whether to replace the total coliform test with an E. coli test.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 28

No formal maximum contaminant level for protozoa should be established until real-time tests are available. The objective, as with bacterial and viral pathogens, should be zero, and the regulations should so state; but the standard should be a treatment standard, specified in terms of log removal dependent on source water quality.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 29

The provincial government should seek the advice of the Advisory Council on Standards regarding the desirability of a turbidity limit that is lower than the limit specified in the federal-provincial guidelines.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 30

All raw water intended for drinking water should be subject to a characterization of each parameter that could indicate a public health risk. The results, regardless of the type of source, should be taken into account in designing and approving any treatment system.

Implemented SDWA

Recommendation 31

The Advisory Council on Standards should review Ontario's standards for disinfection by-products to take account of the risks that may be posed by the by-products of all chemical and radiation-based disinfectants.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 32

The provincial government should support major wastewater plant operators in collaborative studies aimed at identifying practical methods of reducing or removing heavy metals and priority organics (such as endocrine disruptors) that are not removed by conventional treatment.

Implemented- through the publication of a series of Best Management Practices

Recommendation 33

The Ministry of the Environment should be adequately resourced to support a water sciences and standards function in relation to drinking water.

Implemented- MOE business process

Recommendation 34

The provincial government should encourage the federal government, working with the Standards Council of Canada and with advice from municipalities, the water industry, and other stakeholders, to develop standards for materials, including piping, valves, storage tanks, and bulk chemicals, that come into contact with drinking water.

Implemented- through working with Federal Government

Recommendation 35

As part of an asset management program, lead service lines should be located and replaced over time with safer materials.

Implemented - through SDWA, Financial Plans Regulation and Guideline

Recommendation 36

All municipal water providers in Ontario should have, as a minimum, continuous inline monitoring of turbidity, disinfectant residual, and pressure at the treatment plant, together with alarms that signal immediately when any regulatory parameters are exceeded. The disinfectant residual should be continuously or frequently measured in the distribution system. Where needed, alarms should be accompanied by automatic shut-off mechanisms.

Implemented through SDWA
(Automatic shut-off mechanisms)

Recommendation 37

Every municipal water provider should be responsible for developing an adequate sampling and continuous measurement plan as part of its operational plan, as recommended in Chapter 11 of this report.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 38

Sampling plans should provide for sampling under the conditions most challenging to the system, such as after heavy rainfalls or spring floods.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 39

Ontario Regulation 459/00 should be modified to require standard protocols for the collection, transport, custody, labelling, testing, and reporting of drinking water samples, and for testing all scheduled contaminants, that meet or better the protocols in Standard Methods.

Implemented through SDWA (Guidance Document under Drinking Water Testing Services Regulation - O. Reg. 248/03)

Recommendation 40

Where remoteness dictates that samples for bacteriological analysis cannot be delivered to a lab either within regulated times or under guaranteed conditions, the Ministry of the Environment should determine the feasibility of alternative means of providing microbiological testing that meet the requirements of Standard Methods.

Implemented. Under the guidance of the SDWA, these incidents will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Recommendation 41

The provincial government should phase in the mandatory accreditation of laboratories for all testing parameters, and all drinking water testing should be performed only by accredited facilities.

Implemented through SDWA (Drinking Water Testing Services Regulation) - O. Reg 248/03)

Recommendation 42

The Ministry of the Environment should licence and periodically inspect, as required, environmental laboratories that offer drinking water testing; as with water treatment operations, continuing accreditation should be a condition of licence.

Implemented through SDWA (Drinking Water Testing Services Regulation O. Reg 248/03) and Compliance and Enforcement Regulation (O. Reg 242/05)

Recommendation 43

The results of laboratory accreditation audits should be provided to the Ministry of the Environment and should be publicly available.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 44

Municipalities should review the management and operating structure for their water system to ensure that it is capable of providing safe drinking water on a reliable basis.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 45

Given that the safety of drinking water is essential for public health, those who discharge the oversight responsibilities of the municipality should be held to a statutory standard of care.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 46

The provincial government should provide guidance and technical advice to support municipal reviews of water systems.

Implemented - through SDWA, Financial Plans Guideline

Recommendation 47

The provincial government should require municipalities to submit a financial plan for their water system, in accordance with provincial standards, as a condition of licence for their water systems.

Implemented - through SDWA, Financial Plans Regulation

Recommendation 48

As a general principle, municipalities should plan to raise adequate resources for their water systems from local revenue sources, barring exceptional circumstances.

Implemented - through SDWA, Financial Plans Regulation and Guideline

Recommendation 49

Municipal contracts with external operating agencies should be made public.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 50

The role of the Ontario Clean Water Agency in offering operational services to municipalities should be maintained. The provincial government should clarify the Ontario Clean Water Agency's status and mandate. In particular, OCWA should be:

• an arm's-length agency with an independent, qualified board responsible for choosing the chief executive; and
• available to provide standby emergency capabilities.

Implemented through the appointment of independent members to OCWA’s board and a renewed MOU

Recommendation 51

The provincial government should require all owners of municipal water systems, as condition of their licence (see Recommendation 71), to have an accredited operating agency, whether internal or external to the municipality.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 52

Accreditation should be based on an independent audit and a periodic review by a certified accrediting body.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 53

The Ministry of the Environment should initiate the development of a drinking water quality management standard for Ontario. Municipalities, the water industry, and other relevant stakeholders should be actively recruited to take part in the development of the standard. The water industry is recognized as an essential participant in this initiative.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 54

The Ministry of the Environment's Drinking Water Branch (see Recommendation 69) should have the responsibility for recognizing the drinking water quality management standard that will apply in Ontario and for ensuring that accreditation is properly implemented.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 55

The drinking water quality management standard should come into force by a date to be fixed by the provincial government. All municipalities should be required under the Safe Drinking Water Act (see Recommendation 67) to have an operating agency for their water system accredited within a specified time.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 56

The provincial government should require municipalities to have operational plans for their water systems by a date to be fixed by the provincial government.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 57

Operational plans should be approved and reviewed as part of the Ministry of the Environment approvals and inspections programs.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 58

The Ministry of the Environment should work with Emergency Measures Ontario and water industry associations to develop a generic emergency response plan for municipal water providers. A viable and current emergency response plan, and procedures for training and periodic testing of the plan, should be an essential element of mandatory accreditation and operational planning.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 59

The Ministry of the Environment should continue to require the mandatory certification of persons who perform operational work in water treatment and distribution facilities. Education, examination, and experience are essential components of ensuring competence.

Implemented through SDWA and Certification of Drinking Water System Operators and Water Quality Analysts Regulation- O. Reg 128/04

Recommendation 60

The Ministry of the Environment should require water system operators who currently hold certificates obtained through the grandparenting process to become certified through examination within two years, and it should require operators to be recertified periodically.

Implemented through SDWA and Certification of Drinking Water System Operators and Water Quality Analysts Regulation- O. Reg 128/04

Recommendation 61

The Ministry of the Environment should require all applicants for an operator's licence at the entry level to complete a training course that has a specific curriculum to ensure a basic minimum knowledge of principles in relevant subject areas.

Implemented through SDWA and Certification of Drinking Water System Operators and Water Quality Analysts Regulation- O. Reg 128/04

Recommendation 62

The Ministry of the Environment should develop a comprehensive training curriculum for operators and should consolidate the current annual training requirement in Ontario Regulation 435/93 and the proposed requirement of ministry-approved training into a single, integrated program approved by the Ministry of the Environment.

Implemented through SDWA and Certification of Drinking Water System Operators and Water Quality Analysts Regulation- O. Reg 128/04

Recommendation 63

The Ministry of the Environment should take measures to ensure that training courses are accessible to operators in small and remote communities and that the courses are tailored to meet the needs of the operators of these water systems.

Implemented through the Walkerton Clean Water Centre

Recommendation 64

The Ministry of the Environment should meet with stakeholders to evaluate existing training courses and to determine the long-term training requirements of the waterworks industry. The ministry should play an active role in ensuring the availability of an array of courses on the subjects required to train operators.

Implemented through the Walkerton Clean Water Centre

Recommendation 65

The provincial government should develop a comprehensive "source to tap" drinking water policy covering all elements of the provision of drinking water, from source protection to standards development, treatment, distribution, and emergency response.

Implemented through SDWA , NMA, also linked to Source Protection

Recommendation 66

The Ministry of the Environment should be the lead ministry responsible for developing and implementing the "source to tap" Drinking Water Policy.

Implemented- MOE business process

Recommendation 67

The provincial government should enact a Safe Drinking Water Act to deal with matters related to the treatment and distribution of drinking water.

Implemented - through passing of SDWA

Recommendation 68

The provincial government should amend the Environmental Protection Act to implement the recommendations regarding source protection.

Implemented - Source Protection

Recommendation 69

The provincial government should create a Drinking Water Branch within the Ministry of the Environment to be responsible for overseeing the drinking water treatment and distribution system.

Implemented - Drinking Water Management Division

Recommendation 70

The provincial government should create a Watershed Management Branch within the Ministry of the Environment to be responsible for oversight of watershed-based source protection plans and, if implemented, watershed management plans.

Implemented - Drinking Water Management Division

Recommendation 71

The Ministry of the Environment should require the owners of municipal water systems to obtain an owner's licence for the operation of their waterworks. In order to obtain a licence, an owner should have:

• a Certificate of Approval for the facility;
• a Permit to Take Water;
• approved operational plans;
• an approved financial plan; and
• an accredited operating agency.

Implemented through SDWA

Recommendation 72

The provincial government should create an office of Chief Inspector - Drinking Water Systems.

Implemented- through SDWA, appointment of Chief Inspector, Drinking Water Management Division

Recommendation 73

Inspectors should be required to have the same or higher qualifications as the operators of the systems they inspect and should receive special training in inspections.

Implemented - Ministry business process

Recommendation 74

The Ministry of the Environment should increase its commitment to the use of mandatory abatement.

Implemented through SDWA, the Compliance and Enforcement Regulation

Recommendation 75

The Ministry of the Environment should increase its commitment to strict enforcement of all regulations and provisions related to the safety of drinking water.

Implemented through SDWA, the Compliance and Enforcement Regulation

Recommendation 76

The Ministry of the Environment should initiate a process whereby the public can require the Investigations and Enforcement Branch to investigate alleged violations of drinking water provisions.

Implemented through SDWA, the Compliance and Enforcement Regulation

Recommendation 77

A steering group should be established within each public health unit area in the province, comprised of representatives of affected local hospitals, municipalities, local Ministry of the Environment offices and local boards of health, for the purpose of developing in a coordinated fashion emergency response plans for the control of, or the response to, infectious diseases and public health hazard outbreaks.

Implemented- multi-ministry initiative

Recommendation 78

The provincial government should ensure that programs relating to the safety of drinking water are adequately funded.

Implemented- MOE business process

Recommendation 79

The Ministry of the Environment should create an Integrated Divisional System which provides central electronic access to information:

• relevant to source protection;
• relevant to each drinking water system in Ontario (including a description of the system, trend analyses, water quality, and systems data);
• required by the Drinking Water Branch (including for approvals and inspections); and
• required by local Boards of Health.

Implemented - MOE business process

Recommendation 80

The Drinking Water Branch should prepare an annual "State of Ontario's Drinking Water Report," which should be tabled in the Legislature.

Implemented through SDWA and Drinking Water Management Division

Recommendation 81

Ontario Regulation 459/00 should apply to any system that provides drinking water to more than a prescribed number of private residences.

Implemented through SDWA,
Drinking Water Systems Regulation, O. Reg. 170/03

Recommendation 82

The Ministry of the Environment should establish a procedure under which owners of communal water systems may apply for a variance from provincial regulations only if a risk analysis and management plan demonstrate that safe drinking water can be provided by means other than those laid down in regulations.

Implemented through SDWA, Drinking Water Systems Regulation, O. Reg. 170/03

Recommendation 83

The provincial government should not approve water systems that would not be economically viable under the regulatory regime existing at the time of the application.

Implemented - through SDWA, Financial Plans Regulation

Recommendation 84

Approved systems that are not economically viable under the improved regulatory scheme should be required to explore all managerial, operational, and technological options to find the most economical way of providing safe drinking water. If the system is still too expensive, the provincial government should make assistance available to lower the cost per household to a predetermined level.

Implemented -through a funding program for small municipalities and local services boards

Recommendation 85

The application of Ontario Regulation 505/01 should be broadened to include all owners of water systems that serve the public for a commercial or institutional purpose and that do not come within the requirements of Ontario Regulation 459/00.

Implemented through SDWA,
Drinking Water Systems Regulation, O. Reg. 170/03

Recommendation 86

With regard to private drinking water systems that are not covered by either Ontario Regulation 459/00 or Ontario Regulation 505/01, the provincial government should provide the public with information about how to supply water safely and should ensure that this information is well distributed. It should also maintain the system of licensing well drillers and ensure the easy availability of microbiological testing, including testing for E. coli.

Implemented via a multi-ministry (MOHLTC, MOE, OMAF) working group and Wells Regulation, O. Reg. 903/03

Recommendation 87

The provincial government should review the current practices for the delivery of drinking water in bulk and the need for a regulatory framework in this area.

Implemented - through SDWA, Drinking Water Systems Regulation, O. Reg. 170/03 in conjunction with MOHLTC.

Recommendation 88

Ontario First Nations should be invited to join in the watershed planning process outlined in Chapter 4 of this report.

Implemented through the Implementation Committee on Source Protection, Technical Experts Committee on Source Protection and information sharing sessions

Recommendation 89

I encourage First Nations and the federal government to formally adopt drinking water standards, applicable to reserves, that are as stringent as, or more stringent than, the standards adopted by the provincial government.

Implemented through letter to federal government

Recommendation 90

I encourage First Nations and the federal government to consider moving to a quality management standard over time, even if the consequence is that several communities, perhaps both reserve and non-reserve, might collaborate on a regional basis, or that First Nation communities might choose to contract with others to manage their water supply systems.

Implemented through letter to federal government

Recommendation 91

The provincial government should require the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) to offer its services to First Nations band councils for operating on-reserve water systems on a normal commercial basis.

Implemented through OCWA's 2004-2006 Business Plan and renewed MOU

Recommendation 92

The provincial government should actively offer, on a cost-recovery basis, its training facilities and curriculum to First Nations water system operators.

Implemented through the Walkerton Clean Water Centre

Recommendation 93

As a matter of principle, the provincial government should make technical assistance, drinking water testing, inspection, and enforcement available to First Nations communities on a cost-recovery basis, if requested.

Implemented through letter to federal government